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Al Yasmina School Primary Newsletter

7 February 2013

Issue 17

Have you Downloaded the D6 Communicator? 17 days to go!

This will be Al Yasmina’s main form of communication. Follow this link to download

this program on you PC. http://www.six-delta.com/schools/communicators.html

Dear Parents,

Dates for your Diary

Tuesday 12 February - House Athletics for Year 3 and Year 4 (8.30am-11.30am)

Wednesday 13 February - International Day

Thursday 14 February - House Athletics for Year 5 and Year 6 (8.30am – 11.30am)

Thursday 14 February - Valentine’s Day Cake Bake Sale

Thursday 14 February - FS2 Zoo dress up day

Thursday 14 February - Year 1 Jungle dress up day

Thursday 14 Feb - Year 4 Roman dress up day

Week 17-21 February - HALF TERM

Sunday 24 February - School starts

Wednesday 27 February - Year 2 Click Exhibition from 5pm-6.30pm

Wednesday 27 February - Second Hand uniform sale

Thursday 28 February - Aldar Olympics

Thursday 28 February - Music Recital at 2.45pm

Tuesday 12 March - Parent Teacher Consultations

Wednesday 20 March - Spring Concert

Message form Mr. Gale

It has been a challenging January, but the support from many parents has been greatly

appreciated. There is so much to sing and celebrate about our school. We will not lose sight of that.

I have enjoyed the Year 1-2 sports day today. It was a moment of great pride for me watching the

secondary students lead and support the primary children. (Please view the photos on the School

Communicator).

I also write to inform parents that the primary newsletter will be phased out in the comings weeks. It is

envisaged that the ‘new look’ weekly parent newsletter/sheet will be released on Thursday, 28

February. This weekly primary newsletter will be called the ‘Parents Weekly Sheet’. It will still contain

key dates, key events and will have a précis of what happened in the week. Photos will be available

on a weekly basis to view on the School Communicator.

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We will also introduce the Primary PARTnership as a monthly publication, giving you an in-depth focus

into all the exciting and innovative practice in the Primary School. Edition 1 will be released at the

end of March.

We also say farewell to Ms Saif next week. Her contribution to the school has been appreciated.

Unfortunately Ms Wood’s father passed away on the weekend. She will return to school on Sunday,

3 March.

Mrs Sharpe is recovering well. She sends her thanks to the school community for their gifts, thoughts

and best wishes.

Valentine’s Day cake bake sale please support

Please support our World Challenge students with their Valentine’s Day cake bake sale.

All funds raised will be for their Uganda expidition. Please donate cakes on the morning

of 14 February by placing it in the atrium. The cake sale will start at 2pm in the atrium.

International Day - Wednesday, 13 February 2013

To celebrate the vast array of nationalities at Al Yasmina, we will holding an International Day

celebration. Children are being asked to dress up in their national dress or in clothes that represent

the colours of the flag of their country. The day will commence with a parade of nations and then

continue with international but educationally based activities in the classroom. Parents are welcome

to stay and watch the parade from 8.15 – 9am. Seating will be made available and we ask that all

parents stay within the allocated area.

Lessons will resume after the parade, however the international theme will continue

throughout the day. Children will also be given the opportunity to visit an

international showcase, provided by a group of volunteers. This will be a great fun

and educational experience for the children. No money will be required at the

showcase. Specialist lessons will also continue as normal so please ensure your

child comes equipped with their PE kit etc if required.

From the School Nurses

As good role models to our students at Al Yasmina School, staff have been

looking after their health and wellbeing, through the implementation of staff

wellness events. On Sunday 3rd February the school nurse organised for a

team from Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy to come to the school. They set up

outside the school clinic and checked blood pressures, blood sugars and

cholesterol levels. Staff (including administrative, maintenance, security,

cleaning and kitchen staff as well as teaching and support staff) visited the

health check stand. Such was the keenness for staff to check their health that

there was a long line at the stand all day.

Research has shown that if a child grows up in a healthy, active environment

they are more likely to carry on these habits into adulthood, minimizing the risks of many medical

conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity related problems. Let’s all be good role

models!

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From the Music Department

Congratulations to Natalia Moreira Ponce, who also recently took her ABRSM Violin exam. Natalie

passed Grade 1 with a Merit – well done!

Congratulations to this week’s Musicians of the Week:

Khalid Al Mutawa from FS2

Purple, Thomas Hodgson from

Year 2 Storks, and Edmund

Chung from Year 5 Sunbirds.

Khalid has recently found his beautiful singing voice, and this week he sang all by himself in front of

his class. He always works really hard in music - well done Khalid!

Thomas has worked extremely hard this term on his note-reading skills. This week he played a tune on

the xylophone for the rest of his class without a single mistake! Super stuff, Thomas!

Year 5 have been learning about Blues music, and have been playing a class piece. This week the

children had a go at improvising in a Blues style, and it’s really tricky! Edmund did a great job, and

has shown real skill and hard work throughout the entire topic. He also sang and danced with so

much enthusiasm in this week’s Wiz rehearsal. What a superstar!

Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Festival (ADMAF)

Our primary brass players have been given a very exciting opportunity to take part in this year’s

ADMAF Festival. They will be performing with brass players from the Secondary School in the Young

Musicians’ Concert on March 9th, which is to be held in the Abu Dhabi National Theatre. The 30

children are busy preparing for this event with Mr Hudson, and are sounding fantastic! Further details

to follow.

If your child is interested in learning trumpet, trombone, French horn or euphonium, Mr Hudson will

now be teaching full-time at Al Yasmina and does have a limited number of places available. Please

contact nhudson@alyasmina.sch.ae for details.

Dates for your diary:

Thursday February 28th Monthly Recital – the brass group will be performing too!

Saturday March 9th ADMAF Young Musician’s Concert

Wednesday March 20th Spring Concert

Wed/Thurs May 29th and 30th The Wiz!

For any information about primary music activities, please contact cknapton@alyasmina.sch.ae

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From the Arabic Department

قام األطفال يف الروضة الثانية بكتابة حرف السني مع صوته القصري على سيارات صغرية ، وقد استمتعوا هبذا النشاط.

Sport - Abu Dhabi Schools Touch Rugby Series – U11 Tournament

Another great week of touch rugby for Abu Dhabi Schools, particularly Al Yasmina. Entering only their

second tournament the children are already showing a greater understanding of the game and

improved team work. Monday’s hard fought fixtures saw Al Yasmina Greens win their pool only to be

defeated in the final by Brighton, a narrow 0-1 loss. The Al Yasmina Whites performed very well but

results didn’t go their way, however they won their playoff game to finish 7th in the tournament. Next

week it’s the U9’s competition on the 11th February. The U11 competition will resume after the half

term break on Monday the 25th February.

Collection of foreign money for The Pearl Primary’s Assistant Registrar’s daughter.

“I would like to thank all the children, parents and staff at The Pearl Primary School and other Aldar

Academies schools for the amazing fundraising towards my treatment aftercare. Words cannot

express what I feel towards the love, care and support I have seen from all who cooperated in

making this happen. Many thanks again to each and every one of you.” - Sara Saad, daughter of

Amani Naseef, Assistant Registrar - The Pearl Primary

Lost Property

All lost property is held at the main reception. Students & parents can view items from 1.30pm daily,

but after 3.30pm every Thursday afternoon, all unmarked items that have not been

claimed/collected, will be donated to FOY/charity. Please view some of the items on the School

Communicator’s gallery.

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Foundation Stage 1 (FS1)

It has been a scaly week in FS1 with slithers and slides all over the place; we have been learning

about reptiles. We have been listening to clues and using our thinking skills to try and guess what

animals our teachers have been hiding. It has been fascinating to find out how many different

colours reptiles can have on their scaly skin by investigating different skins and creating our own

magic scratch pictures. Ask us to find you something long or short at home this weekend, we have

made long and short snakes in class and are experts at identifying the longest and shortest. We have

also been discussing our zoo topic so far and talking about the animals we liked and what we have

learnt about them. We are very proud of how much we have learnt!

Next week we are going to be swinging through the Jungle towards the end of our topic. To

celebrate how much we have learnt we are going to be monkeying around and having a zoo dress

up day, on Thursday 14th February, a separate letter will come to you with the details.

All the FS1 teachers would like to say a special ‘Thank you’ to all the parent helpers who came to the

zoo with us last week. We had a great time, your help was essential and we all very much appreciate

you giving up you time. To support your child’s learning at home this week please continue to help

them practice writing their name including the correct letter formation and blend and segment CVC

words such as cat, pin, sit, tap.

A quick reminder that all PE and swimming lesson are an essential part of the curriculum and it is

important that the children are prepared with the correct kits, on the right days. This includes

swimming hats for swimming. If for some reason you child cannot take part in a lesson for medical

reasons please could you pass on a note to the child’s class teacher, thank you.

Congratulations to our Stars of the Week

You should be very proud of yourselves for the hard

work you put in last week. Last week’s stars were:

Green Class- Tien-Hom Woon, White class-

Mohamed Al Hashemi, Yellow Class- Shamsa Al

Khaili , Gold class- Abdulla Al Hammadi, Red Class-

Nael Mahmoud, Blue Class- Albin Deblom.

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Foundation Stage 2 (FS2)

FS2 have had a wonderful week learning all about different reptiles! We have read all about Achilles,

the little crocodile who only wanted to eat children despite his Mum & Dad trying their hardest to

persuade him to eat other foods. Luckily Achilles realized he needed to eat his bananas to grow

strong so this inspired FS2 children to write a menu of all the food they would try for their parents! The

top foods your children would like to try are:

Tomatoes

Olives

Tuna sandwiches

We would love to see some photos of the children trying these new foods, just like Achilles.

Continuing with the idea of food FS2 made Crocodile Courgette Cupcakes! We decided against

using actual crocodiles so instead the children had to decorate their cupcakes to look like Achilles.

The FS2 teachers also joined in and are now considering a career move to Official Cupcake Makers

of FS2!

We have also put into practice our number skills and have

measured each other to try and find out who is the tallest. The

children have assured Miss Gaywood that as long as she

continues to eat her bananas like Achilles she will be the tallest

soon! Next week we will be rounding off our topic by learning

about Jungle animals. We will be going on a jungle adventure,

making our own rainforests and discussing how we can save

the animals that are becoming extinct. In Maths, we will be

counting repeated groups of the same size.

You could help at home by:

- Researching information on jungle animals

- Practice writing sentences about jungle animals

- Put the same number of objects into groups and count them

Phonics Focus:

Phase 3 sounds - revisit igh ur ow oi ear

Tricky words- they, saw, all, you, are

Helpful websites:

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/games/actiongames/rainforest-rescue/

http://www.kenttrustweb.org.uk/kentict/content/games/maths.htm

Zoo dress up day

We would like to remind you that it is dress up day next Thursday, 14 February. The children will take

part in a variety of fun activities linking to the animals and enclosures they have been learning about.

At lunch time we would like to celebrate the end of the topic with a zoo themed tea party.

We would be very grateful if you could contribute some food for the party - please see the table

below regarding what to bring in:

Item FS1 FS2

Sandwiches Blue Purple

Savories Gold/Green Amber

Fruit Red Orange

Cakes/Biscuits White Ruby

Sugar free juice cartons Yellow Jade

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Please remember, there should be no foods containing nuts, or any pork products since the snacks

are being shared

Request

Next week we are looking at Jungle animals and all children need to bring in either a shoe box or a

cereal box. If you have any extra boxes please send them in too!

Congratulations to our Stars of the Week

Well done to our Stars of the Week, Stelios Charalambides from Jade Class, Zayed Alriyami from Ruby

Class, Charlotte Holden from Orange Class, Moustafa El Zeftawy from Purple Class and Salem Al

Mazrouei from Amber Class. The FS2 teachers found this week very hard to award just 5 stars of FS2 as

all children were so amazing on the school trip! Who will it be next week?

Year 1

Year 1 are continuing to make super progress with their jungle learning this week. In literacy we have

been using all of the information we have gathered over the last few weeks to create our own

Jungle Animal non-fiction books. Ask your child to tell you an animal fact; they have blown us all

away with their knowledge. Watch out David Attenborough!

In Numeracy we have been learning exploring

measures involving capacity, length and weight. The

children have ordered items and used

mathematical language such as lighter, heaviest,

longer, short, holds most and holds least to compare

and order objects. They have also been using non-

standard units (cubes, pencils, paper clips etc) to

measure and compare. Take a look at some of

Cuckoos investigating who is the tallest member of

the class (it wasn’t Miss Wells!)

Year 1 will be continuing to investigate measures

next week. To support your child further at home this

weekend can they explore the following questions?

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Who is the tallest member of your family? What can you use to check?

Can you order three things in your fridge from heaviest to lightest?

How many times does it take to fill different containers/drink bottles using your favorite cup?

Reminders and upcoming events:

Trip

On Monday 11th February Year 1 are setting off on their trip to Emirates Zoo. If you have not yet

returned the consent form and 50AED please can you do so asap.

Reading fans.

Your child will be bringing home over the next week a question fan. These questions are used during

guided reading sessions by staff to extend and develop children’s knowledge of texts. Please support

your child at home by asking some of the questions when they share their reading book with you. The

reading fans do not need to come back to school and can remain with you at home.

Jungle projects

We are looking forward to seeing the children’s finished jungle projects. Please note deadline for

projects is Sunday 10th February. Please make sure your child brings in their project by the deadline so

they can share their achievements with the rest of the class.

Performance

Year 1 have been practicing hard for their ‘Jungle Song’ performance to parents on Thursday 14th

February. This will be held from 1.15pm in the Dance Studio. Please come along and see your child in

jungle action!

‘Dress up days’ don’t forget…

International Day- Wednesday 13th February. Children are invited to dress in the flag or colours of

their home country.

Jungle Day- Thursday 14th February. Children can come dressed as a jungle animal to celebrate their

efforts with this half term’s topic. Children can also bring in a jungle game (no Ipads or valuables

please)and/or a jungle cuddly toy. If a toy is particularly special or sentimental however we would

encourage them to keep it safe at home!

Congratulations to our Stars of the Week

Nazli Kamel – Cuckoos, Moza AK Darei – Larks, Piper Donald – Doves, Eissa Al Hammadi - Robins

Hessa Saeed – Sparrows.

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Year 2

Year 2 had great fun on their Click Trip around Abu Dhabi last week. The children took some

fantastic photographs which they are all now in the process of editing on the computers. The

photographs will be printed and framed for our wonderful, ‘Click Exhibition’ which will be held in

School On Wednesday 27th of February from 5pm – 6:30pm. A formal invitation will arrive home soon

from the children, but so you don’t miss out add the date to your diary!

In literacy we have been looking at persuasive language. We

watched adverts to help us think about the language used to

persuade people to buy things. In groups the children had to come

up with their own advert and slogan to sell a piece of fruit, the

children had great fun doing this! We also read the story, ‘Don’t Let

the Pigeon Stay Up Late’. The children then had to work in pairs to

come up with a short play to persuade their parents to allow them

to stay up late…so listen out for any excuses at home this week!

This week in maths we have moved onto weighing. We have been

using the balances to help us estimate, compare and measure

different objects using standard units such as kilograms.

Challenge Area - This week the children have started to use the

shared area which is now our ‘Challenge Area’. There are

challenges set for the children to work on. This encourages them to

think creatively, solve problems and also gives them the chance to

work with children from other Year 2 classes.

Congratulations to our Stars of the Week

Rosie Wood – Spoonbills, Nina Schippe – Sandpipers, McKenzie Coetzee – Herons, Oliver Fiddler –

Storks, Dana Hasan – Flamingos

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Year 3

We are all very excited in Year 3 this

week because as you know it is out

Aussie Camp out on Thursday! We

have been studying measure and

capacity in maths in preparation for

baking our Anzac Biscuits on

Wednesday. Thank you to all of the

parents who sent in food from your

cupboards to be weighed. Next week

we are investigating shape and angles.

In Literacy we have been learning to edit and proofread our work as well as challenging each other

with anagrams and palindromes. We have also been focusing on reading comprehension and

answering higher order questions about our reading books. In Topic we have been learning the

words and the story behind the popular Australian song, ‘Waltzing Matilda’. We will be singing along

to this and other famous Aussie songs at the sleepover.

Next week we will be making cross-curricular links between Topic and Literacy by making a fact file

on an Australian Animal. This will help us develop our research, writing and presentation skills.

In Science we have moved on from rocks to soil. We have been learning the process of how soil is

formed. Next week we will be investigating different types of soil and their components.

Notices:

Please be aware that due to the Aussie Sleepover, we will not be giving out any homework this week.

Children should revise all spellings in their book and we will be having a random test of 20 words on

Monday.

Congratulations to our Stars of the Week

Lily Fowler, Matthew Hile, Omar Kamel and Vinuth

Mudiyanselage, Farida El Ogueil (Absent from picture)

Year 4

In Year 4 this week we have been doing some time travelling in our writing. The

children have been writing some amazing stories set in the Roman Era. The

have been looking at the structure of stories and the functions of the different

parts as well as creating some magnificent descriptive sentences.

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In Maths this week we have been doing some investigating using a Roman banquet as the theme

and have begun to look at some data handling, where the children have been interpreting data

from graphs and charts.

We continued to look at a bit of maths in our topic where we

looked at how children learned in Roman times. Year 4 or should I

say Year IV have been learning to write numbers the way the

Romans did. Wagtails had a bit of fun making sums for each other

using Roman Numerals. The children discovered that school

nowadays is a little nicer than Roman times. The children have also

created some amazing Roman mosaics.

Next week is a very busy week in school. We start off with Sports

Morning on Tuesday, children should come into school wearing their House T- shirts with their PE shorts.

On Wednesday we have International Day where children are invited to wear traditional clothes

from their country or the colours of their national flag. Finally we have Roman day on Thursday where

the children are asked to wear a Roman costume. Could we ask if you have any spare thick card at

home e.g. packing boxes or veggie boxes from school that you do not need, could you send them

into school as we are going to make Roman shields on Roman Day. Thank you for your continued

support.

Congratulations to our Stars of the Week

Zaynab Boustique (Warblers), Zaina Ahmed (Pipits),

Patrick Carter (Wheatears), Dana Al Shukeily

(Sandgrouse) and Olivia Williams (Wagtails).

Year 5

Another jam packed week of Ancient China. Having studied the role of women in society and the

routines of the emperors, we have started to look at the natural and man-made geographical

features of China. In particular, they have examined the importance of the two main rivers on the

expansion of China, and the building of the Great Wall of China. We are also looking at the major

cities within China. During Literacy we have been looking at the features of persuasive writing and

putting together our own advertisements. We have been looking at the elements of ‘bias’ and

‘exaggeration’. In Numeracy the focus has been data handling and the variety of ways in which

information can be displayed without too much writing. Once we have represented the data in a

particular chart, we can then analyse it and make deductions. We have also been looking at the

probability of events occurring.

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Next week is extra special! We have a fantastic residential trip to Dibba which both staff and pupils

are really excited about. During the visit there will be many interesting activities for the children to

take part in, such as navigational skills and orienteering, exploring and studying the local UAE culture

of the region and furthering our topic work of this term by examining the effects of coastal erosion

upon the Dibba coastline. In addition, the children will gain greater independence, learn to work in

collaboration with each other and as a result, will develop greater friendship and respect for each

other.

We had a Year 5 assembly at which pupils will have the opportunity to air any questions about Dibba.

Those pupils not going to Dibba have got some lovely activities planned which will test both their

culinary and creative skills!

After Dibba the fun doesn’t stop. On Wednesday we have International Day and on Thursday…Sports

Day! For International Day, we would like children to give a brief talk about their country of origin,

they may want to bring a photo or picture with them. The Talent show at Dibba is optional, however if

your child would like to share a particular talent, they will have the opportunity to do so.

As most of the children have got a busy weekend preparing for Dibba and ensuring they have all

their essentials, there will be no homework this week. However the Kite project is ongoing and we will

be looking forward to seeing them after the half term.

Congratulations to our Stars of the Week

Mohammed Al Hosani -Sunbirds, Layla Hasan -Mynahs, Sarah

Priestley -Nightjars,Holly O’Sullivan -Parakeets and Gabby

Loftus-Swallows.

Year 6

As always the children in Year 6 have worked incredibly hard this week and the enthusiasm shown,

especially during the hands-on practical activities, has been noted by all the teachers.

The week kicked off with a fantastic Fun Day Sunday! A day packed full of team games, outdoor

play and a very welcomed yummy pizza lunch! The children’s disappointment over Oman was

pushed aside (for one day at least!)

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During Literacy the pupils have been working on a range of grammar and punctuation tasks to help

develop their ability to construct detailed and lively sentences in their written work. In Numeracy the

focus has switched to securing number facts and the properties of shape. Some classes have been

looking at quadrilateral shapes whilst others have started with number investigations for example,

prime factors of numbers etc.

In Science the children are currently working on their skills of scientific enquiry as they continue to look

at, and analyse the results of their experiments and the rates at which different materials dissolve.

The children have particularly enjoyed their D & T experience as they have been given the

opportunity to work in the secondary wood work shop on the construction of the wooden frames for

their earthquake houses. In our ‘Freaks of Nature’ topic, the pupils have been learning how an

anenometer is used to measure wind speed.

Eagles busily working on their frames in the wood work shop!!

Next week the focus in literacy will be on comprehension skills. We will be looking at developing the

ability to infer and interpret meaning from texts, which is not always directly obvious from what is

written. In maths the focus will be on using and applying mathematical knowledge and skills to

problem solving. On Wednesday it is International Day and the children will have the opportunity to

engage in a range of fun and exciting activities which aim to develop their appreciation and

understanding of countries in the world and the cultural diversity that exists amongst them.

Further reminder – the deadline is drawing near!! Natural disaster projects are due on Monday 11th

February.

Congratulations to our Stars of the Week

Tanami Loftus (Owls) Nor Asyraf Nor Azhar (Kestrels)

Matthew Wood and Yarrow Ansell (Eagles) Adam

Tlemsani (Ospreys) Sandali Weeraseker (Falcons).

Al Yasmina School

Tel: 02 501 4888

email: jhupalo@alyasmina.sch.ae